[6] After enduring measles, Daniels would require glasses to see for most of his life afterward, which led to him being bullied by other children at his school.

[6] Influenced by Pentecostal gospel, local bluegrass music groups and rhythm and blues artists that he heard on the radio,[7] as well as Western films, Daniels began writing and performing songs.

[15] Daniels scored a Top 10 hit on the Billboard Pop charts with "Uneasy Rider", a talking bluegrass song, in 1973.

[15] Saddle Tramp was also a gold seller, and was the first release by the band to reach the top 10 of the Billboard Country charts.

He would also later provide a fiddle solo to the bridge of Williams Jr's later song Family Tradition from his 1979 studio album of the same name.

In 1979, the Charlie Daniels Band released their most commercially successful album, Million Mile Reflections, which reached number five and was certified triple-platinum.

[15] After the platinum certified Full Moon (1980) and the gold certified Windows (1982), Daniels would not have another hit album until the 1989 release Simple Man, which earned Daniels another gold album,[15] although the title track sparked controversy, as it was interpreted by some as advocating vigilantism,[19] due to lyrics such as "Just take them rascals [rapists, killers, child abusers] out in the swamp/Put 'em on their knees and tie 'em to a stump/Let the rattlers and the bugs and the alligators do the rest", which garnered Daniels considerable media attention and talk show visits.

[15] In 2001, Daniels received considerable attention for his song "This Ain't No Rag, It's a Flag", released in November, 2001, which was written in response to the terrorist attacks on September 11th of that year.

[24] The following year, Daniels played in the backup band for Hank Williams Jr.'s opening sequence to Monday Night Football.

[31] In the late 2010s, Daniels, drummer James Stroud, guitarist Billy Crain and bassist Charlie Hayward formed a new band, Beau Weevils, which debuted on the 2018 album Songs in the Key of E, which Daniels described as being in a "down-home, swampy rock meets funk with a little taste of Delta-type of style.

[13] The New York Times said that Daniels' music incorporated elements of country, blues, bluegrass, rock and Western swing.

[13] After the success of "The Devil Went Down to Georgia", a single which Erlewine described as a "a roaring country-disco fusion",[15] Daniels shifted his sound from rock toward country music.

[6][13][15] According to Forbes writer Seth Cohen, Daniels "frequently captured the pent-up frustrations of many Americans who felt that a "coastal elite" cadre of politicians and activists were moving the country farther away from some of its core values".

[46] According to Rolling Stone, Daniels had "plenty in common with moderates and liberals who supported Bernie Sanders, expressing disgust at Washington gridlock and a fervent belief in term limits for people in Congress so that fresh ideas keep coming."

"[42] In 2013, following chemical weapons attacks by Bashar al-Assad, and United States military response, Daniels wrote, "These and other questions need to be answered before any kind of action, bilateral or unilateral is taken.

[49] After President Donald Trump's April 7, 2017 military strike against targets in Syria in retaliation for additional chemical weapon deployment, Daniels tweeted: "The world changed yesterday, America will no longer be viewed as a cowering toothless tiger.

"[43] In 2019, Daniels lambasted New York Governor Andrew Cuomo for signing the Reproductive Health Act, which legalized abortion until birth under some circumstances, tweeting "Watch the wrinkles on Cuomo's face lengthen as the ramifications of the thousands of murders he has sanctioned come to bear on him.

[53][54] Daniels suffered a major arm injury on January 30, 1980, while digging fence post holes on his farm near Mount Juliet.

He suffered three complete breaks in his right arm and two broken fingers when his shirtsleeve caught on a spinning power auger.

[56] During a doctor visit on March 25, 2013, Daniels was diagnosed with a mild case of pneumonia and admitted to a Nashville hospital for a series of routine tests.

[57] Daniels died on July 6, 2020, at the age of 83 of a hemorrhagic stroke at Summit Medical Center in Hermitage, Tennessee.